The present invention relates to the packaging of articles, especially food articles, and more particularly the packaging of plant tissue.
Plant tissue, and particularly products such as fresh herbs, will spoil or otherwise deteriorate, and lose much of their organoleptic quality over time.
Since plant tissue, in the form of fruits and vegetables, is often fragile and subject to abuse from shipping, storage, and the like, various packaging methods have been proposed to protect such products.
One method has been the hammock-type package, for example, as described in U.S. Pat. No. 2,501,570 issued to Larsen.
This reference discloses two sheets of plastic material suspended within an outer container of cardboard, corrugated board, plastic, etc. The packaged product, for example a fruit or vegetable, is contained within the plastic sheets. These sheets are ordinarily dust tight, but may be gas permeable or perforated.
Other hammock-type packs are disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 2,956,672 (Kirkpatrick); U.S. Pat. No. 2,837,208 (Lingenfelter); and U.S. Pat. No. 2,681,142 (Cohen). These references generally teach the use of shrink films, plastic, cloth, or paper sheets which are used to wrap a fragile article such as light bulbs or electronic tubes. The wrapped article is suspended within a rigid container such as a cardboard box or transparent rigid plastic shell.
Also of interest is U.S. Pat. No. 3,523,403 which discloses an article placed between two transparent display panels mounted within a bifurcated cardboard shell. The article may be placed between the two film patches by bringing the two panels face-to-face.
One significant problem that has arisen in connection with packaging plant tissue such as fresh herbs is deterioration caused by contact of the tissue with moisture condensed on the interior wall of the packaging container. This is especially troublesome in connection with plastic films and other relatively solid, moisture and gas impermeable materials, whether transparent or opaque. Such moisture derives from transpiration of the tissue and condensation of this water vapor on the interior wall of the container. If the tissue is wrapped in close proximity or in contact with the interior wall of the wrapping material, this moisture will come in contact with the product and accelerate deterioration and reduction in quality of the article.
It is therefore an object of the present invention to provide a packaging system for plant tissue, such as fresh herbs, in which the shelflife of the tissue is extended.
It is also an object of the present invention to provide a packaging system in which condensed water derived from the plant tissue is kept out of contact with the plant product.
It is also an object of the present invention to provide a packaging system as described above, but substantially transparent to permit consumer inspection of the packaging product.